WandaVision 1.09 - The Series Finale

[butterflykiki]

"We have said good-bye before. So it stands to reason--"
"We'll say hello again."

Excuse me while I just cry for a while, even though I knew it was coming.

I think it was the Vulture recapper who said this part of the series did a fantastic job of showing what it is like to be in love at the end of the world, and they weren't wrong. This world, Wanda's world, ended. The love didn't. This show made me care about Vision and Wanda and Wanda&Vision, because they make each other better people, as well as being each others' comfort & joy.

There are 3,800+ people who are not going to forgive Wanda. Nor should they have to. They can't forget, however much they may want to, that they were prisoners and muppets for over a week. In fear for their lives, helpless, cut-off, experiencing the nightmares of a war trauma victim. It doesn't matter to them that Wanda didn't know what she was doing to start out, or for a lot of the rest of the time; or that she had good motives in the times she did have full cognizance of her actions. They will probably never stop being afraid she may have another mental break and come back to mess up their lives. Gah, do I feel for them. I bet a few villains do come out of their messed-up metropolis. Does FEMA pay out for Acts of Superheroes and mis-managed government secret agencies?

Wanda said she was sorry to Monica, who could understand the full scope of her screw-ups and sins, and give her her own forgiveness, at least. But there's not enough apologizing in the world that won't feel like excuses and insults to the people of Westview. Some other reviewer (you can tell I've been reading the blogs, right?) was pissed that she didn't apologize to the Westview citizens. I think that both for meta reasons and character reasons, it would have come across as false, or threatening, or unbelievable, because the only reaction she would have gotten from them was them spitting on her, at best. Which would've brought the episode down, you know?

The other reason why not... is I think they're going in an anti-villain/anti-hero direction for Wanda. This is her origin story as a maybe-bad-guy-sometimes; starting out with one act of being out of control, not knowing enough, being in incredible pain. And then running from the consequences. Like Monica said, a lot of people, given the circumstances, might have done the same. A hero would stop, fix it, and never do it again. Wanda is not that hero, not yet.

Because I saw her in that cabin-- which I am firmly convinced is Bruce Banner's, he probably gave her the key -- and the shadow-Wanda playing with magic in the back room. And I thought of all the times Agatha or other people observed, "that accent just comes and goes, doesn't it?"

Wanda-the-Scarlet-Witch has a Sokovian accent. Wanda Maximoff doesn't. This is not a split personality, but I think it's telling that she's in the Hulk's old refuge right now. She has a lot of pain to push away, way too much power, and way too much imagination. The mind does funny things in order to cope, and unfortunately in the MarvelVerse (for everyone else, mostly) magic makes the imagination real. You can't undo a spell once it's been cast, according to Agatha (who is not a reliable source, but I think she had a point here). Wanda is trying to be responsible. She is trying to figure out what all that power without the rules and limits of most witches means.

And she's still hearing her son's voices in her dreams, and hoping to see Vision again.

And she still did something absolutely horrible to Agatha, imprisoning her inside Agnes. It was cruel. Agatha may have deserved it, it may have been one of the few ways to keep her bottled up and safe away from the public and the kinds of government agencies that would want to use her. It still doesn't mean that the Scarlet Witch had to do that, or do it to such a degree. That was revenge. And maybe also Wanda missed her "friend." You could see how trapped Agatha was inside Agnes in Katherine Hahn's glassy tear-filled eyes. Kudos to her, she was awesome from start to finish: the kind of villain you can stand to see again, because she tells the truth about her own motivations and doesn't apologize. Wanda needs to learn that lesson from her, but I'm pretty sure she's not there yet.

Also I still want to set up a play-date with Agatha and Loki.

More on this episode and the characters and series later, especially on Fietro/Ralph (HA I CALLED IT, HE WAS RALPH), the kids, the Trio of Joy as Havoc calls them, and everything else.

Comments

[kirbyfest]

Hm. I don't think she's hearing them in her dreams; I think she's hearing them in another dimension, and she's desperately trying to find a way to get to them. But yes, it's fascinating to think about the accent and where they're taking her character.

I could have cared less about Wanda till this and it's opened up a rich new area to explore. I have zero Marvel comics exposure, so it was a great ride!

[butterflykiki]

Getting back to you aaaages later: yeah, I know, I was being metaphorical and it didn't work. Heh. She's hearing them from *somewhere*, and I look forward to finding out where Tommy & Billy are at some point in the future.

And I'm so glad you enjoyed the series too! Have you caught Falcon & Winter Soldier yet, or any of Loki?

[kirbyfest]

I am up on ALL THE MCU SERIES. (need different hobbies)